ACCRA – Korte Dorbor Bazzie, popularly known as Kobazzie is bracing for perhaps his biggest musical project to date. Teaming up with Ghanaian international musical sensation Stonebwoy, the Liberian singer-songwriter and producer says having exceeded the expectations of his many supporters and fans, the upcoming collaboration with Stonebwoy offers a perfect opportunity to expand his stardom and music to the rest of Africa.
“Fans always want a lot from their favorite artist. They always have high expectations on new projects,” the artist says, after a recent recording session in the Ghanaian capital. “That is why it is important for an artist to understand his fanbase before releasing a project.”
For Kobazzie, the chance to record with the Ghanaian Afropop, dance hall and reggae icon is massive.
The opportunity came in 2019 when fans voted Kobazzie for the MTN People’s Choice Award, paving the way for the upcoming collaborative project. “I had the opportunity to select any artist in Africa for a collaboration and a video produce by an international Video producer. My team and I decided to work with Stonebwoy because we believe that Stonebwoy had a different vibe of music and I wanted take a challenge and move out of our comfort zone by blending afro beats with dance hall. I can guarantee you that it is an amazing project.”
Kobazzie says since winnng the MTN choice award, he has been working on the new material and project with Stonebwoy. “As you can tell, I won the award in 2019 and the song with Stonebwoy is coming out in 2021. That can tell you a lot of work was put into this song. Also, one of the reason for the delay was due to covid 19. We couldn’t travel do the video for the song because of travel restriction. At one point, I was announce Covid Positive which was a false alarm, when I travel to Ghana for the video shoot.”
The collaboration with Stonebwoy called “Everyday” is set to be released the last week of August with a video also set for release simultaneously.
“I had the opportunity to select any artist in Africa for a collaboration and a video produce by an international Video producer. My team and I decided to work with Stonebwoy because we believe that Stonebwoy had a different vibe of music and I wanted take a challenge and move out of our comfort zone by blending afro beats with dance hall. I can guarantee you that it is an amazing project.”
– Kobazzie, Singer, songwriter, Producer
Stonebwoy is the stage name for Livingstone Etse Satekla, whose Afropop, dancehall and reggae beats has made him a household name in Ghana.
Stonebwoy is also the CEO of Burniton Music Group. He won the Best International Act: Africa category at the 2015 BET Awards and Artist of the Year at the 2015 Ghana Miusic Awards. Stonebwoy is also the recipient of two Billboard plaques.
Regarded as the king of reggae and dancehall artists in Africa, Stonebwoy is also an actor, having appeared in the movies Happy Death Day and My name is Ramadan. He is a global ambassador for sanitation. In September 2019, he was made the brand ambassador for Voltic Natural Mineral Water.
Kobbazzie, who has made a string of successful hits including Bounce, featuring Davido, Enjoyment and the Kizzy W-produced “My Heart”, says his main goal is to not just expand his fanbase but produce good music and please his fans. “Realistically, pleasing people is a difficult task; but I can assure that this new single is not a song, it is a record, a record is a song that never gets old and is always pleasing to the ears. It crosses boundaries.”